Mariano Rivera & The New York Yankees

If you watched even a little baseball last season, you probably caught Rivera’s farewell tour around the league. Baseball’s all-time saves leader was showered with gifts everywhere he went, usually in the form of some pregame ceremony at the start of a road series.

The gifts were emblematic of a long career in baseball and the giving nature of Rivera, whose charitable endeavors remain a big part of his life. It’s in this spirit that a brotherhood developed between the soft-spoken Panamanian from a fishing village and big-city New Yorkers.

So beloved was Rivera that the iconic rock band Metallica performed his out-of-the-bullpen song, “Enter Sandman,” live at Yankee Stadium before a game just before the season ended.